Becoming Beloved
by Sue-Drae
Summary: ABANDONED After discovering Inuyasha with Kikyo, Kagome had expected to be crushed. What she didn't expect was Sesshomaru coming out of the blue and bringing her back. Or the change she undergoes. Full summary inside SessKag InuKik MirSan
1. Chapter 1

A/N:

Full Summary:

After discovering Inuyasha with Kikyo, Kagome had expected to feel crushed and heartbroken. But looking at them, she couldn't feel any bitterness. So she ran. What happens when Sesshomaru finds her, lost in the woods? What happens when he brings her back? Kagome's world changes as she tries to understand Sesshomaru's motives and mixed signals when the unthinkable happens. Faced with a choice, will she rise to the challenge or be crushed beneath it?

This is my first Inuyasha fic, so please don't be too mean. This story has been playing around in my head and I finally decided to type it up and publish it. I appreciate all reviews, flames included.

I don't own anything even remotely close to Inuyasha.

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><p>Her feet landed heavily with each step as she fled from her attacker. No, Higurashi Kagome was not in physical danger. The only danger she was in was of a sharper and more lasting kind: heartbreak.<p>

She had thought that she was prepared for it. It was inevitable, she told herself, but that did nothing to help the pain when she _really_ found out. She had known each time Inuyasha slipped away from their group to visit Kikyo, but knowing was very different from seeing it. Hearing him proclaim her love for Kikyo, completely brushing off Kagome's presence in the group as a mere shard-collector. Watching Kikyo's face light up, for once without any sign of cynicism or insincerity.

Branches snapped back, whipping across her face and arms as she pushed her way through the foliage. The sharp branches sliced small cuts into her clear skin, but she didn't feel the pain. If anything, she felt an overwhelming numbness that, in some part of her mind, was terrifying.

Detached from the pain, Kagome continued forward, losing herself in the unfamiliar woods.

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><p>Sesshomaru's nose twitched as his eyes took in the line of destruction that ran through the forest. He could smell <em>her<em>, his half-brother's wench, but he could also smell blood. Her blood.

_Surely the mutt's not __**that**__ incompetent,_ Sesshomaru thought to himself, following the clear path. He owed nothing to Inuyasha, but Rin liked the other girl. And if Rin had found out that he had ignored the wench when she was so clearly injured... Sesshomaru couldn't let himself disappoint his ward that way.

With thoughts of Rin, he walked easily through the woods, following the wench's scent. The closer he came, the stronger her scent became. Just as he was noticing how fresh and clean her scent was, it was polluted with tears.

He turned into a clearing that flanked a gentle stream. Kagome was curled against a tree besides the river, her head resting on her knees. Judging from her steady heartbeat and deep breathing, she was lost to sleep.

He took the time to study her. Although he could not see her face due to the position in which she was sitting, he could tell that she was definitely worse for wear. Her unusual and revealing clothing was dotted with small tears and snags from where it caught on branches. Shallow cuts danced across her pale skin. Her dark hair fell down around her face, hiding her face even more completely.

He paused, for once not sure what to do. He could wake her up, but then what? Leave her there? Then Rin would surely find out. Take her? Take her where? Back to Inuyasha?

**No,** his inner beast growled. Sesshomaru curled his lip at it mentally.

_This does not concern you, beast,_ he said, reminding the instinctual creature of his boundaries. The beast only grinned.

**She is mine,** the beast informed him. Sesshomaru was beginning to lose his patience. He waited briefly for the beast to continue, but it did not elaborate.

Still slightly unsure of what to do concerning the girl- _wench,_ he corrected himself mentally- Sesshomaru carefully lifted her into his arms, careful not to wake the sleeping girl. Not that that seemed to be a concern. As soon as she was situated in his arms, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. He let himself sigh in annoyance before following Kagome's trail back to the group.

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><p>"Where's Kagome?"<p>

Shippo was the first to notice her disappearance.

Inuyasha tilted his head back to taste the air, searching for her scent concernedly. He had heard her crashing away from him and Kikyo the night before, but he had assumed that she would head back for the campsite. Clearly not.

"She's-" His sentence was caught short as a figure melted out of the trees. There, standing in the morning mist, was his half-brother, Sesshomaru. He was about to draw Tetsusaiga, but something made him pause. A flash of raven hair.

_Kagome._

Inuyasha felt oddly... betrayed. He knew it was wrong, but what was Sesshomaru doing carrying Kagome? He was infamous for his impatience and disrespect for humans, and Kagome was a miko at that!

He couldn't help it. He growled.

The sound brought Sango, Miroku, and Shippo's attention to the demon and priestess as Sesshomaru continued towards them.

Inuyasha, one hand on Tetsusaiga's hilt, stomped towards his half-brother. Seeing him about to speak, Sesshomaru interrupted.

"You should keep a closer eye on your miko, mutt. She was fairly far from your camp," he said emotionlessly as he transferred hold of Kagome to the hanyou. To his surprise, his inner beast seemed outraged at the exchange, growing somehow pleased when Kagome resisted the change, tightening her hold on him until he managed to pry her fingers away from him. Noticing this, Inuyasha scoffed.

"Yeah, I'm sure-"

"Thank you for bringing her back to us, Sesshomaru-sama," Sango said, bowing her head as she kicked Inuyasha in the shin. Inuyasha glared at the demon slayer, almost missing Sesshomaru's barely perceptible nod.

"It wouldn't do for her to be lost. Rin is fond of her," he elaborated, not leaving any room for argument or speculation. Sango bowed her head again before Sesshomaru turned and faded into the woods as silently as he had appeared.

"Tch, what's with him?" Inuyasha scoffed. None of his companions could offer a suitable response, so he let it go.

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><p>AN:

I want to say that, for some reason, I really hate Kikyo-bashing. I understand that she isn't very nice in canon (after all, she's usually trying to steal Kagome's soul or bring Inuyasha to hell) but I like to think that there's a nice side _somewhere_ under there. So I'm going to make her genuinely happy that Inuyasha chose her, and not Kagome.

Hopefully nothing will be horribly cliche, but no promises.

Again, this is my first Inuyasha fic, so please keep that in mind ^.^

Tell me what you thought,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:

This is a very short chapter, so I'll be updating twice today. Just a warning :)

I don't own Inuyasha :(

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><p><strong>Why'd you give her back?<strong> his beast asked for the eighth, ninth, tenth time. Sesshomaru was long since tired of his inner beast's fascination for the miko.

_She's the mutt's wench,_ he responded as he did every time. His nose wrinkled in disdain. _Not to mention human._

**She's not his. She's **_**ours**_**,** it argued back. Sesshomaru sighed, openly his eyes in hopes of a distraction.

It had been a week since he had encountered Kagome's sleeping form in the woods, and he had not seen or smelled any from their group. He had returned to his own group, hoping to spare Rin from Jaken's more bothersome qualities. Sesshomaru had had enough of it when he was just a pup, he could at least spare Rin from that cruelty.

"Sesshomaru-sama! You missed it! I made Jaken pretty!" Rin called happily as he stepped back into the meadow Rin had insisted they stop at. It was a decent sized space, on high ground, easily defendable, and close to a river, but Rin was too young to notice those advantages of it. No, all she noticed were the wildflowers springing up around the long grasses.

Jaken was currently trying to untangle himself from ropes of flowers, carefully made by the young human girl. Ah-Un looked on in amusement, circlets of flower adorning the dragon's two heads.

**Looks like the pup knows how to take care of the imp,** Sesshomaru's inner beast snickered. A flicker of amusement flashed through Sesshomaru's normally emotionless eyes and Rin beamed up at her father figure.

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><p>Inuyasha yelped as Kagome ran over his foot with that... device. <em>What did she call it? A... bysickle?<em>

"What was that for?" he shouted out, annoyed and in pain. Kagome jumped, snapping out of her thoughts. She blushed very lightly, apologizing at once.

"I'm sorry! Just... lost in thought, I guess," she joked uneasily.

Still muttering, Inuyasha turned his back to Kagome to face the road. He began walking ahead, ignoring the rest of the group as he so often did. Kagome rolled her eyes before being absorbed once more into her thoughts.

_Why did he bring me back? I would've thought that he'd just leave me there... Or kill me,_ Kagome pondered, reflecting on Sesshomaru's latest action. It confused her, and ruined almost every impression she had of him. Almost; his only weakness was the young girl she had seen with him every now and then. _But even that can't really mean anything... I mean, Rin is the kind of person __**everyone**__ likes,_ Kagome said to herself, not sure if she was trying to reject or accept the new side to Sesshomaru's personality.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry!" Kagome shouted automatically, snapping out of her thoughts. To her surprise, Inuyasha was _not_ run over as she had thought. No, he was just caught by surprise as an energetic ball of laughter ran right into him.

Both hanyou and human fell into the dirt with a gentle thud. When the small cloud of dust cleared, Kagome was surprised to see Rin laying opposite from Inuyasha, a pout on her lips.

"Oww... That was mean," Rin complained loudly, rubbing her head.

"Rin-chan, what are you doing by yourself?" Kagome asked, kneeling besides the girl. Rin looked up at Kagome with childish glee.

"Rin ran away from Jaken-sama!" she said proudly. "Jaken-sama is no fun to play with, so Rin was looking for Sesshomaru-sama!"

"Well, I don't know where Sesshomaru is, but we should take you back to Jaken," Kagome said, leaving no room for argument as she glared pointedly at Inuyasha. He scoffed, tossing his hair over his shoulder as he stood up, brushing the dirt off of his red pants.

"Who cares where Fluffy is? We gotta get a move on," he complained. A vein in Kagome's forehead throbbed.

"Inuyasha," she began in a sickly sweet voice that made the hanyou pale. Kagome's expression darkened with sadistic mirth. "SIT!"

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><p>AN:

See? Very short.

Be on the lookout for the next chapter- I'm updating it as soon as I get this up.

Thanks for reading :)

^.^ Susie ^.^


	3. Chapter 3

A/N:

WARNING! This is the second chapter I've updated today. If you haven't already, please go back to chapter 2 and start from there. Thank you~

I don't own Inuyasha. Lol, almost wrote Bleach because of "Older, Wiser, and Stronger"

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><p>Sesshomaru was just approaching the clearing where he had left Rin, Jaken, and Ah-Un when he felt it. Their- his mutt of a half-brother's group's- presence. They were near. Irritated, he walked faster, hoping to avoid them. Not only did he want to avoid wasting his time on a landslide fight with the mutt, he didn't particularly want to see the miko. After fighting on who Kagome belonged to all day with his inner demon, Sesshomaru was sure he didn't want to deal with <em>that<em>.

It wasn't the first time he had felt so possessive towards someone, but it was the first time he wasn't sure how to perceive it. He swore to keep Rin safe, which usually meant by his side, and that was where she _belonged_. She was his pup. But Kagome... He wasn't sure why he wanted to claim the miko.

Sesshomaru pushed his thoughts to the side and opened his mouth to call for Jaken when the imp ran up to him, already apologizing. It didn't take long for Sesshomaru to figure out what his incompetent servant had done, and it took him even less time to become furious at him.

_Now the mutt will catch up to us for sure,_ Sesshomaru sighed in annoyance.

**Perfect... Our miko will be with him...** Sesshomaru was disgusted as the inner beast licked his lips.

_She's Inuyasha's wench, demon. And she is human,_ Sesshomaru repeated. The inner demon only laughed.

**Not for long... Soon she will be-**

_Silence,_ Sesshomaru ordered his inner demon impatiently. The beast obeyed, smirking in satisfaction as his presence faded to the edges of Sesshomaru's mind.

"Oi, teme! We found-"

"SIT!"

"Damn it! What the hell was that for?"

"Don't call him that! What's he done to you?"

"I don't know, try to kill me? Try to kill you? Try to take _my_ sword?" Inuyasha answered Kagome sarcastically, daring her to respond. Kagome, if it was at all possible, growled.

"SIT!" she commanded. Inuyasha face vaulted into the rocky soil. The satisfying thud was later accompanied by a very loud complaint consisting of a long stream of expletives.

Sesshomaru watched, amused, as Kagome melted from the trees, closely followed by Sango, Miroku, and Shippo. A very familiar figure was in her arms.

"Rin!" Jaken cried out, cursing internally.

"I thought I'd return the favor," Kagome said, walking right up to Sesshomaru. Blushing ever so slightly, she transferred the now sleeping girl into the Western Lord's arms and was surprised to see him nod in appreciation.

"I thank you, miko," he said, the stiffness melting out of his voice. Kagome was caught off guard as he smiled ever so slightly. The expression was gone just as quickly as it had come, leaving Kagome wondering if she had imagined it.

**Just grab her and-**

_Silence_, Sesshomaru ordered his demon more forcefully, repeating his arguments in his mind for both himself and his inner demon.

"It was no problem," Kagome said, nodding happily. Inuyasha crossed his arms.

"Like hell it was a problem! We weren't even going in this-"

"Sit," Kagome said, her tone still light and conversational. Kagome's expression did not change as her hanyou friend crashing once more into the ground.

**Damn... Don't get **_**that**_** girl pissed off,** Sesshomaru's inner beast commented. A flicker of irritation entered Sesshomaru's eyes and Kagome took a step away. Needless to say, the Western Lord's inner demon didn't seem to appreciate it much. The taiyoukai was thoroughly surprised as his inner demon tried to take over. It was only being reminded of Rin in his arms that kept the beast in submission.

Rin yawned and stretched, almost hitting Sesshomaru in the face with her small fist. Inuyasha scoffed when his older brother leaned slightly away from the girl to avoid what could have been a humiliating blow.

"Okay... Well that was it," Kagome said awkwardly, rocking back on her heels. "We should get going."

"I said that hours ago!" Inuyasha shouted out, exasperated. Kagome shot him a pointed glance and he quieted, seething in silence and Kagome said her goodbyes to the now-awake Rin.

"Can't Kagome-chan stay with us, Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin pouted. Sesshomaru sighed, the sound hardly audible.

"I'm sorry, Rin-chan. I have to stay with Inuyasha," Kagome said, smiling to the girl.

"But Inuyasha's a meanie!"

"Oi, brat-!"

"Sit!"

Rin laughed as Inuyasha was sent flying downwards once again. Kagome knelt down besides the girl, wrapping her arms around the younger girl in a hug.

"I'll see you again soon, okay?"

"Promise?"

"I promise," Kagome smiled, standing.

**Why are you letting her leave? She belongs with us! She-**

_Is the mutt's wench,_ Sesshomaru finished smoothly.

**No, she's **_**ours!**_** Don't let him have her! **the beast growled angrily. Sesshomaru ignored the voice, ordering Jaken to prepare for their departure. The imp hurried to follow orders as Rin took her place on Ah-Un's back, leaving Sesshomaru to his jumbled thoughts.

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><p>AN:

This chapter is fairly short as well, but I didn't want to combine it with the previous. I feel like there is a few hours' time lapse that you couldn't determine between the two chapters, so I had to separate them to portray that.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully reviewing,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	4. POLL RESULTS

Eep... So, instead of JANUARY 22nd, I ended up updating on FEBRUARY 22nd. Better late than never though, right?

AND THE POLL RESULTS ARE IN.

Actually, they've been in for a long time now but I've just left the poll open so if you voted late, don't sweat it. Also, if you messaged me because you had trouble with the poll and told me what story you wanted me to continue, I've already added those in so don't worry about your voice not being heard.

Results: (# of Votes)

Older, Wiser, Stronger (123)

Return of the Kiiroi Kitsune 70)

Another Shot (47)

A Survivor's Tale (37)

Role Reversal (34)

Thicker than Water (24)

Rose Lupin GOF (16)

Rose Evans (16)

Becoming Beloved (14)

Athena's Hearts (11)

In case it wasn't obvious enough, the top three choices are Older, Wiser, Stronger (Bleach), Return of the Kiiroi Kitsune (Naruto), and Another Shot (Avatar: TLA).

Congrats if the story you wanted made the cut, sorry if it didn't. Again, I can't promise any regular updates or anything definite like that but I want you to know that I will be thinking of them and trying to track down whatever elusive plot bunny inspired me to write them in the first place.

Again, sorry about the delay but you all know I'm a mess with deadlines by now.

Until next time,

Sue ^.^


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